


Something That You're Missing

by pene



Category: Bring It On (2000), Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants (2005)
Genre: Character of Color, Crossover, F/F, Female Friendship, Femslash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-03-04
Updated: 2006-03-04
Packaged: 2017-10-05 00:00:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,694
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/35496
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pene/pseuds/pene
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Missy says, "So, you've kissed girls before?"</p>
            </blockquote>





	Something That You're Missing

**Author's Note:**

> Notes: Escritoireazul requested Carmen/Missy or Carmen/Tibby. I went one better ;) It's Bookverse for the Sisterhood. And seriously combining these two mediums was hard – I mean, Bring It On is a wacky cheerleader comedy while Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants is kind of earnest and sweet.
> 
> Thanks to rebism for her help.

Soon after Carmen turned eleven her mother said, "Some day, sweetie, your daddy might want to marry someone else." Carmen unleashed a string of words that mostly said, "You're stupid" and mostly meant "But he can't."

Then she ran to Tibby's house. They called Lena and Bee. Between the four of them they came up with seven different plans to get Carmen's dad back. Two were deemed "too Parent Trap" by Tibby; three sounded dangerous to everyone except Bee; one required Carmen's mother to learn figure skating. The last seemed perfect. But then Lena reminded them they'd tried something similar a year earlier. They raided Tibby's mom's fridge for tofu ice-cream instead.

Now Carmen's almost sixteen. She's sitting on a garden chair in South Carolina. Her dad is slow dancing with his colourless new bride. The smiles on the bride and groom's faces would make Tibby retch. Carmen reminds herself that she's glad to be here.

It's the kind of summer day that makes you surprised you haven't melted. A sheen of hazy heat rests on the grass underfoot; wraps around the sweaty wedding guests; settles on the walls of the giant white tent. Carmen lifts her hair from her neck. A standing fan swings back and forward. She waits for the breeze to touch her damp skin.

Out on the dance floor Paul is waltzing with Krista. They twirl perfectly together. Carmen is their step-sister as of right now, and she supposes it's cute that they're out there together. But to be honest the blonde on blonde action freaks her out a bit. She takes a gulp of champagne.

"You look out of-" Carmen turns in her chair. The girl behind her isn't blonde, but Carmen knows what she means.

"You're right. I look out of place. See, I'm Puerto Rican and not blonde. But that's my dad getting married so I'm here for him. And sure, my Puerto Rican ass is wearing jeans which-"

"-gas," finishes the girl. "You look over it." She leans past Carmen to look at Carmen's butt. "Your ass looks good to me." Carmen blushes, not that it's visible – a benefit of skin tone.

"Missy." The girl introduces herself. She sticks out a hand for Carmen to shake. Missy's fingernails are painted black to match her dress. Her hair is twisted into little knots on her head.

"I'm Carmen," says Carmen. "Sorry about that. I'm sort of hypersensitive today."

"You're fine," says Missy, easily. "Have some champagne." She reaches for a bottle. Carmen doesn't normally drink, but she's impressed by this girl's self-assuredness. Carmen holds out her glass. Missy pours with one hand, the other resting over Carmen's fingers, steadying Carmen's glass. Carmen shivers as Missy moves her hand away.

"I think it's the heat," says Carmen. It doesn't even make sense in her own head.

Turns out Missy is ten months older than Carmen. She's a cheerleader, which seems wildly at odds with her slouch and the black fingernails. She's got the tough chick thing down, even in a dress. Carmen's predictably curious where all the attitude comes from.

"Are your parents here?" Carmen asks. Missy nods toward an ivory-suited couple. "They don't look much like you," says Carmen.

"They're all right," says Missy. She shrugs. "They pretty much let me alone." And maybe she's just naturally tough because she sounds pretty relaxed about them. "Lydia's my mom's best friend," Missy says. "In high school they listened to Grand Funk Railroad together and smoked dope and all that shit."

"Huh," says Carmen. She doesn't really want to see Lydia as human, yet. She certainly doesn't want to imagine Lydia with a best friend.

Missy tells Carmen about Missy's best friend. "Torrance is all about the cheer," Missy says. "Couldn't fucking stop herself when I came out of the closet." Missy stands up, feet together, hands at her sides."You are bangin'! You are glam! You can be a lesbian! You're a hottie! You da bomb! Watch out ladies here she comes!"

Carmen laughs as Missy flops back into her chair.

Carmen tells Missy about Tibby and Lena and Bee. Truth is she already sees a little of each of them in Missy: Lena's observant eye and Bee's bright energy. And above all, Tibby's fiercely rebellious teen.

"Caught you out on the dance floor before," says Missy, later. "The whole tent was watching you and blondie." Carmen can tell the compliment is hers and not Paul's. When the music morphs into "White Wedding" Missy says, "Great track" and grabs Carmen's hand. Carmen grins and follows her. She tries not to think about her sweaty palms.

It might be the champagne but Missy singing, "Hey little sister, what have you done," in Carmen's ear is about the sexiest thing Carmen's heard.

Several glasses of champagne later they've danced to "Say a Little Prayer" and "We Are Family" along with some real music they begged from the DJ. Over the Black Eyed Peas Carmen catches herself looking down Missy's dress and blushes. Then she blushes again to think Missy might have seen her looking.

In any case, Missy's got some moves and Carmen's got some booty. Carmen feels like the center of the dance floor.

Shania Twain starts to sing "From This Moment." Missy's hand slips over Carmen's hip and pulls Carmen close. Carmen's brain catches up with her breathing for a second.

"Let's um- sit," Carmen says.

Missy says, "Sure." They step off to one side. Missy looks thoughtful as she says, "Sorry Carm, I think I mistook the way you lean."

Carmen blinks a little at Missy's directness. "I think-." She pauses. "I think you read it about right," she says. "But I also think my dad's standing just over there, my crazy aunts are sitting behind that tent flap and my new step-brother is staring at us right now."

Missy looks around. "I see what you're saying," she says seriously. Carmen giggles nervously. Missy turns to her. "Be honest though, it was the song. Shania's a bit verse-chorus-verse, and not in the good way."

Carmen giggles again. She looks into Missy's eyes and sings, "From this moment, life has begun." Missy rolls her eyes appreciatively. Disconcertingly Carmen thinks of Tibby.

"Let's get out of here," Carmen says.

They walk through a stretch of woods to the creek edge. The moon is fat and summery. It lights the moving water and Missy's cheekbones. Carmen takes off her wedding day shoes. The stones are still warm under her bare feet, but the moss is cool. Further along there's a clear dark pool.

The last time Carmen swam naked she was about to turn thirteen. It was hours after the local pool had closed and Bee picked the lock after scaling the fence. They all stripped in the dark and dove in at the deep end.

Carmen doesn't know whose idea it was but they took turns, eyes closed, guessing who belonged to which naked, wet body.

"We're best friends," Bee said. "It's okay."

"And it's dark," said Carmen, mostly for Lena's sake. "We can't see anything."

They haven't talked about it since. But Carmen thinks about it probably once a day. Sometimes as she drifts to sleep she's running wet hands across Bee's muscled stomach and Bee grabs her upper arms, hard, and presses her against the pool wall. Other times Carmen's stroking Lena's soft skin and Lena leans in to lick pool water from Carmen's breasts. Most times Carmen is holding Tibby's little ass in both hands, pulling Tibby's body tight against Carmen's own. And Tibby wraps her legs around Carmen's waist and kisses her. She doesn't know where things go from there.

"Come on then," says Carmen to Missy. "We'll jump in and cool down."

Missy grins appreciatively. They strip in silence. Carmen folds The Pants and places them on a rock with her shirt and shoes and earrings. Missy tosses her dress over the top.

The pebbled pool bed is hard against Carmen's feet. She sucks in a breath as the water ripples around her stomach. She watches Missy across the water surface.

Missy asks, "So, you've kissed girls before?"

Carmen says, "Yeah." And then she says, "But, it was just practise. I mean, practise for the girls, for my friends."

She remembers Bee above her in Bee's sunlit bedroom saying, "Hold still, Carma. I can't do it right if you wriggle around like that."

And Tibby, sitting beside Carmen in the dark of Tibby's room, saying fiercely, "It's not like we want to practise on the losers at school, right?" Tibby kind of pursed her lips and leaned in. Carmen started giggling. Tibby sighed exasperatedly. When they both leaned in again Carmen held her breath and pressed her lips against Tibby's. She was surprised when Tibby's tongue ran across her lips. Carmen opened her mouth slightly and took Tibby's lower lip between her teeth. Tibby arched her back and Carmen could feel Tibby's small, hard nipples through her shirt. When they broke away there was a pause between them.

Then Tibby said quietly, "I guess kissing'll be like that," and turned away.

It didn't much feel like practice.

"Come on then," says Missy. Carmen is already breathless.

Carmen moves and the water circles and stirs between her legs. She's close enough to see the perfect droplets across Missy's stomach and over her breasts. Carmen's breathing too fast. Mostly she hopes it doesn't smell like garlic from the chicken dinner.

Missy tilts her head, like a challenge. Carmen feels a snap of confidence. She leans in against the water. Their kiss is all teeth and tongue and never stopping for breath.

There's no air left in Carmen's lungs when they pause.

"Holy mother of-," breathes Carmen. "Dios mio."

Missy lets out a quick laugh and shakes her head. "Yeah."

Missy lowers her head to Carmen's breast. She looks up with a wicked smile and then takes a nipple into her mouth, flicking at it with her tongue, running circles around it. Carmen gasps as Missy's teeth press against her. Missy's fingers dig into Carmen's lower back and press Carmen close. Then Missy runs her hand down across Carmen's abdomen.

Carmen thinks, "Oh god, what if I'm too hairy." But Missy's looking at her like she wants to eat her just to share one skin. Carmen stops thinking.

Missy curls a finger against Carmen's folds and presses it inside Carmen.

"God, you are so tight," Missy says on a breath. Carmen feels like she's in a porn movie. She can't think to speak. The rhythm of Missy's fingers thuds inside her. She feels like she's been stretched wide open. And the water's everywhere.

"There you go," murmurs Missy. "You can take it; I know you can take it." It hurts when Missy pushes more fingers inside her, but Carmen bites her lip and rocks forward against Missy. She gasps, "God," over and over.

"Give it to me, girl," says Missy. And Carmen does; comes shuddering in Missy's hand.

When Carmen catches her breath she feels like saying, "I don't know how to give that back to you." She feels like sobbing against Missy's muscled shoulders. She doesn't do either.

Just over a year ago Tibby and Bee and Lena and Carmen took a school trip to a University of Maryland open day. They stayed overnight, two per motel room. After a day of "Girls can study Chemical Engineering too" and "Be an archaeologist, you'll dig it" they headed home for bed.

Carmen was half asleep when she heard a small moan from Tibby in the other bed. Carmen listened. She heard tiny noises as Tibby's fingers rubbed herself rhythmically. Carmen opened her eyes a slit. She watched in the dark as Tibby rolled over onto her stomach and pressed herself against the bed. Tibby's ass moved up and down under the sheets. Carmen could hear that Tibby's fingers were wet against her clit.

As Tibby's breathing sped and shallowed so did Carmen's. Carmen reached between her legs to touch herself. She was drenched. Carmen let her fingers circle her clit as she listened to Tibby breathe and moan. She pressed hard as Tibby's breathing shook. Carmen's back arched. She pressed herself into her hand. Her whole body shuddered as she came.

There was quiet in the motel room. Tibby's breathing, and Carmen's, slowed to normal. Carmen lay awake for an hour. She wanted to say something, but she'd no idea what.

Carmen woke to mottled cream motel walls. The sunlight was just visible through the gap between the heavy curtains. Tibby was in the shower. They didn't speak about it.

*

Carmen writes to Missy for several months before Missy manages to send a letter. It reads, "Hey baby. Thanks for the letters. Hope your girls are rocking it, Bethesda style. Met some fine young things at the conference. Who knew there were fringe benefits to cheerleading? Remember you're fucking gorgeous." She signs it, "xx Miss."

Half of Carmen wants to laugh. The other half takes her over to Tibby's place.

"I think," says Carmen, "maybe she's not really that into me."

Tibby's hair has lavender stripes this week. They clash beautifully with her orange comforter. "You may be right, Carmabelle. The girl doesn't know what she's missing. Look at you, you're beautiful and way less lame than any of the many cheerleaders I've met. Want me to send my people to California and beat her up?"

Carmen giggles, which is part of why she came over. "You'd like Missy, though," she says. "She's really not that lame."

"So you say." Tibby frowns a little. "But you'll get over it. Bee and Lena are on their way."

The girls arrive with videos and cookies and they all pile into Tibby's room. Bee splays herself across the floor and Lena curls in the window seat. Tibby and Carmen settle in on Tibby's bed. Tibby's thigh is resting next to Carmen's. Carmen doesn't want to move.

Sometime during the movie Carmen lets her hand drop so it's brushing against Tibby's. Tibby runs her thumb across the back of Carmen's hand then laces their fingers together. Carmen misses most of the movie just trying to control her breathing.

When the second movie is over Bee bounds up. "That's it for me; I've got practise at six tomorrow." She reaches toward the lamp on Tibby's desk and Tibby drops Carmen's hand. They blink in the yellow light.

Lena unfolds herself gracefully from the window seat. "Coming Carmabelle?" she says as she gathers her things.

Carmen opens her mouth. Tibby butts in. "Carmen's gonna help me out with some editing for a bit," she says.

"Yep," says Carmen. She pats the top of a computer monitor, hoping no one can see her hand shaking. "See you both tomorrow."

When the door closes behind Bee and Lena there's a terrifying minute of silence in the bedroom. Outside they hear Bee calling to Tibby's mum, hear the door slam, hear Lena's quiet "Bye Bee" and Bee's bicycle bell. Then everything's quiet. Carmen reaches for Tibby.

"So we-" Carmen starts.

"Don't talk about it," says Tibby. "Just for a second."

Carmen closes her eyes and kisses Tibby. It's lucky Tibby stopped her talking. Carmen might have said, "It's the things that are right in front of you that surprise you." Then Tibby would have thrown something at her. Kissing is better.

"Call your mom," says Tibby a few minutes later. She hands Carmen the phone.

Carmen always thought it'd be hard, knowing what to do. But as it turns out it's easy. Carmen knows a lot about touching herself. She tries all that on Tibby. She lets her fingers circle and lap Tibby's hardening clit. When Tibby says, "yes" Carmen knows she's doing it right.

It's strange, being here with Tibby. Tibby's got freckles on her legs and small breasts and crazy purple hair. Tibby giggles when you try to touch her neck. Carmen knows all that. And still she wants to be inside her, to taste her, to share one body. It's strange and new. But it's also something that's always been there.

*

THE END


End file.
